South City Burglary Caught On Tape

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ST. LOUIS, MO (KPLR) – There is a community-wide effort to identify two burglars whose faces are clearly caught on surveillance. It happened at a gutted house on Wyoming Street in South St. Louis. Nearby homeowner Brian Kenney is currently remodeling it, but the continued thefts are seriously hampering his efforts.

Gesturing to open space above the front door, Kenney says, “He came in through this top part of the door, and then was able to reach over, stretch all the way down, unlock the door, and then he just rolled in.”

Kenney knows all this because he saw it, crystal clear, on surveillance. So far, burglars have snatched items worth thousands of dollars, from several doors to a water heater.

Kenney explains, “Just last week I had somebody cut an extension cord, they probably got 35 cents of scrap, it cost me $150 to replace.”

Since this latest theft, detectives have enhanced several still images from the surveillance video, and are widely circulating them.

St. Louis Police Major Gerry Leyshock says the images are emailed to police officers in St. Louis and surrounding jurisdictions, along with a description: “We have roughly 1,300 police officers, and from dealing with suspects maybe on more than one occasion, or sometimes officers just remember talking to somebody and remember his name, we have a fairly decent success rate.”

Because of this success rate, Leyshack says it’s not a bad idea for homeowners to install a surveillance camera with resolution high enough to identify faces. He explains, “Sometimes we see photographs even from businesses that are so grainy, that even with our best efforts, we can’t enhance them for viewing.”

The men are estimated to be 5’7 and 5’4. If you recognize either of them, police urge you to call Crimestoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS.